Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant, June 16, 2006
Virtually unnoticed by critics and the public, you've probably never heard of this one, but it's one of the best teenage coming of age movies. Not a big budget movie but nonetheless very well made. While the basic plot is fairly simple, the twists and turns that occur along the way are creative and hilarious. The cast put everything into this one-excellent performances all around. You could tell they believed in this movie. Clever and funny from start to finish, this is a delightful movie.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Looks like its going to be one of those days Jerry", December 6, 2006
Three O'clock High is one of the best 80's teen films there was. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to attain the instant cult status that other films of similar theme like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Ferris Bueller's day off" did.
Nearly 20 years after its release, Three O'clock High is still a film that is classic in every aspect of 1980's high school antics on the big screen. With big hair, colorful clothes and an instrumental soundtrack from Tangerine Dream, the film takes us back to the day Jerry Mitchell met Buddy Revell.
Buddy Revell (played by Richard Tyson, who in film would later go on to be a pilot in "Black Hawk Down", a sinister villain in "Kindergarten Cop" and an intense Detective in "There's Something about Mary") is a new kid in school. The problem is, he's a problem child. He's big, mean and has been known to go ballistic when people touch him. Revell arrives at this new high school amid a swarm of urban legends and hallway gossip that strike fear into the student body. Jerry Mitchell is a kid who works at the school bookstore, has an occult obsessed girlfriend who is more wannabe than weird, and a friend who works on the school paper with him. The friend is in charge of finding someone to to interview Buddy to find out more about him. Through an accidental meeting in the bathroom, Jerry conveys the papers intentions to Buddy, which by now has held a sneer so long he is being compared to Charles Manson. Jerry makes the mistake of patting Buddy on the shoulder, and the rest is history: Buddy informs Jerry to meet him at 3:00pm so that they can fight. The problem? Buddy looks like a large axe murder while Jerry resembles more of a kid who is on his way to becoming an accountant or something.
The rest of the day plays out in a series of bizarre events that are wrapped up in some high school fact as well as teenage spoof reel. Jerry goes through a variety of antics to get out of the fight, and in the process slowly turns his own good image into one of trouble. By noon the entire school not only knows of the fight, but also is taking bets on how long Jerry will last. It appears Jerry is doomed, and as he continues to try and do everything he can to change things, the acts only backfire to keep him within the walls of his high school till the sound of the final bell. The movie does an excellent job in the execution of the overall filming, as it does many quick zoom shots as well as odd angles to add to the uniqueness of the overall experience we see as Jerry goes about his day.
The film is nostalgic but not too cheesy on the time period of the 80's, which is easy to scoff at now. The attention of the film is centered on the characters and the storyline a bit more than others of its genre. From the school disciplinarian resembling a Prison Warden to the constant guilt trips the principal plays on Jerry about his permanent record being marred, its idealisms and humor are easily recognizable. Tyson is superb as the scary, imposing bully type student while Casey Siemasziko does a great job portraying the small, pale student named Jerry Mitchell, who despite having a bad day, ends up finding out what its all about to stand up for yourself. A classic 80's film that never, ever got the credit it deserved.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Great Comedy, July 27, 2003
Unfortunately, this film was buried under a mountain of non-promotional advertising b/c of Director Philip Joanau's (sp?) refusal to change its name from THREE O'CLOCK HIGH to BELLS RING AT THREE. The film production company felt the drug connotation of "getting high after school" was not the right message to send and ignored the obvious comparisons in the title to another stellar film about facing your greatest confrontation alone, HIGH NOON. Consequently, this film didn't have a chance at the box office.However, don't let such a little thing as a title fool you. THREE O'CLOCK HIGH is a wild energetic ride. Casey Siemasko (sp) does a brilliant job as the young kinda/sorta nerd upstart who finds himself watching the clock all day until three p.m. ... when circumstances of fate are requiring him to face-off with the brutish new-kid-in-school twice his size. This film is as much fun as John Hughes 'high school' films, but it never found an audience as it was simply never promoted. Accept it for what it's worth, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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